Asheville festival success tied to mission, not money

Since 2013, six major Asheville entertainment events and festivals, from decades-old block parties to zombie walks, have been put on pause or canceled outright. Many organizers cited money woes or unendurable infrastructure and planning limitations as reasons for the struggles.

Madison J. Cripps, of Cripps Puppets, performs for a crowd at the Lake Eden Arts Festival at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain in 2013.(Photo: Robert Bradley, Citizen- Times File Photo)

ASHEVILLE – For Jennifer Pickering, success is a once-shy young musician playing trumpet on stage in front of his beaming parents.

One of Laura Hope-Gill's proudest moments came after a webcast reading, when she saw that people in 18 nations had tuned in. Matthew Kern's achievement metric? The number of hugs he received from thrilled festival-goers.

All three are event organizers who produced large-scale festivals when the economy flourished — and when it failed. Under sunny and stormy skies.

Each of these events slated for May is vastly different: Pickering has produced the arts-filled Lake Eden Arts Festival for 19 years; Hope-Gill, a local poet, directs the seventh annual Asheville Wordfest; while Kern and four close friends have produced the music- and outdoors-focused French Broad River Festival for 17 years.

These myriad activities, ranging from rhyming to rafting, are connected by motivation: Each event is designed around mission — not money. Since 2013, six major Asheville entertainment events and festivals, from decades-old block parties to zombie walks, have been put on pause or canceled outright. Many organizers cited money woes or unendurable infrastructure and planning limitations as reasons for the struggles.

"We don't do it for the money," said Kern. "If all of sudden we started making money, that would be a great thing. If you are in it for the money, I think that's why a lot of (festivals) don't make it. I don't blame them for that, if someone gets fed up because they are not making money and quit. We just all have altruistic bones in our bodies."

Through the years, the French Broad River Festival has donated more than $150,000 to local and national charities, including American Whitewater, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of WNC, Caring for Children, Homeward Bound, Hope for Holt, MANNA FoodBank and Hot Springs Community Learning Center.

The Hot Springs tradition started as "a party on the river" after the founders finished kayaking on the French Broad River. But the number of people who came to that party skyrocketed.

"For years, we used to double the size of the festival every year," he said. "Doubling it was too much; we never had enough volunteers, port-a-johns."

They shifted to a more sustainable growth pattern, Kern said, of about 10 percent a year. Last year, the fest drew about 2,400 people. "We would like to grow that to about 2,800-3,000 people and cap it at that."

The five organizers have full-time jobs outside of the festival; Kern, for instance, is a homebuilder. He handles logistics for the French Broad River Festival, from accounting to the contracts and permits. The group meets monthly to plan during the off-season and weekly close to the festival date, May 2-4 this year.

"And there are tons of emails all the time," he said.

Organizers have learned valuable lessons in the past two decades. One example: Delegate responsibility and hold others accountable to complete tasks, even if they just got married. Or moved. Or had children.

"Through it all, we have survived partly because we are friends and we can say the tough things to each other," he said. "There have been a few times over the years when we had to tell each other to stop being slack."

Another lesson: They have to approach sponsors before the new year, since most businesses and organizers plan budgets in advance.

The festival seeks sponsorships, and has increased those efforts in recent years to increase sustainability. Often times, Kern will approach businesses and tell them to give 70 percent of the sponsorship money directly to the charity (this year's event is a benefit for American Whitewater, Homeward Bound and Hot Springs Community Learning Center).

The festival's charity focus makes a "huge difference" when it comes to forging partnerships with businesses. "We also have local bands who will give a discount on their fees" because of the charity support.

Last year, a new sponsorship from Aloft Hotels was key after bad weather and an unexpected disaster: a Metropolitan Sewerage District pipe broke just days before the fest, and raw sewage poured into the river. Aloft support compensated for an attendance dip of about 300 people below expectations.

"After the last show is over and I'm exhausted and someone gives me a hug and says 'that that was the best show I have ever seen,'" he said, "that makes it worthwhile."

Lake Eden Arts Festival

The biannual LEAF is an unusual festival model: The two weekends of concert, arts and other activities is the nonprofit's "signature event, but also fuels our year-round programming," said Pickering, festival founder and organizer. "It also serves the mission."

The festival, known for its international and local music, art vendors, camping option, as well as children's activities and outdoor adventures, "supports itself and the administration piece," she said. Therefore, all of the funds raised by the nonprofit, which is run by nine staff members, goes "100 percent into programming," she said.

LEAF produces about 100 arts education programs, she said. She created LEAF Schools & Streets in 2004, and since then, it has reached about 41,000 area youth.

It's a local arts education program matching artists with youth in schools and communities for hands-on workshops, residencies, interactive performances and mentoring that includes opportunities for youth to perform with the artists at the festival.

The LEAF umbrella also includes LEAF International. Since 2006, the organization has connected more than 1,000 youth to their region's cultural arts traditions. The program reaches 10 countries in various schools, orphanages and cultural centers. A group of 12 students from the new Haiti program will attend this May's LEAF.

The festival, slated for May 8-11, requires massive manpower: Pickering said the tally is 560 volunteers and 280 staff to support the operations.

"It's an unusual model and a challenging site to work," Pickering said of the festival's large and varied Camp Rockmont footprint, which includes barns, fields full of tents and a lake. "It's not an easy equation at all, but it makes you scrappy. (The festival's longevity) has really shown the power of our community and the desire to be a part of something."

"It takes a lot of people to make it happen," she added. "That's definitely a part of it." The majority of these volunteers are longtime contributors, she said, although organizers aim to recruit new people each year, whether it's to volunteer or attend.

"That's the interesting question: How do we get people who have heard about LEAF for years, but haven't come?"

Pickering considers LEAF "a phenomenal success" but strives to grow and improve. She would love for LEAF to sell out a couple weeks after tickets go on sale so she could focus more on planning and programming rather than marketing.

"We have about 25 percent of tickets left," she said.

Many families and groups of friends attend year after year. She recently met "so many people who had raised their families there; LEAF has become part of their family tradition," Pickering said.

These people, these stories make Pickering grateful for all the people who help LEAF accomplish their mission — and it encourages her commitment to the cause. "I am so grateful to have a reminder of what we do," she said. "It's a lot of work. (These stories) keep your vision at that 20,000-feet perspective — rather than what we see when we are down in the weeds."

Asheville Wordfest

Local writer and poet Hope-Gill said Wordfest began when poets who had been part of the Green Door, a former downtown club, "decided to give back to the community that supported them decades before." She "had a big party at my house where we filled page after page of a flip pad with what a festival needs to do," she said. "Because I was holding the pen, I became the director. I still am."

The free event, running May 2-4 with readings, workshops and performances, has evolved over the years: The first five years focused on poetry. Hope-Gill added storytelling last year. This year will also feature filmmaking, songwriting and narrative.

Wordfest was built with funding from North Carolina Arts Council and North Carolina Humanities Council.

Now, more private donors are stepping forward, she said, and the event is "moving towards sustainability."

Hope-Gill noted directing the multi-day event with about 30 presenters and performers, is a spiritual, community-minded effort. She works throughout the year for free, explaining that "the joy of having served the community well" is her "high honor" — and main reward.

She said the main lesson she has for those who want to start a festival is simple: "If you don't believe in it, don't do it."

"A time will come every year, dangerously close to the production date, when something will happen that makes it all seems absolutely impossible," she said. "You will fall to your knees. You may cry on the floor. This is the universe testing you to see how much you believe in this."